40 DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST 



the loss due to my action — a loss to which she and her 

 fellow " grey seal-mothers " must be not unfrequently 

 exposed from other causes. I do regret, however, that 

 it did not occur to me until too late that it would have 

 been a wonderful experience to lie quietly on the shore 

 some few yards from the baby seal, as the sun set, and 

 then to see and hear the great seal-mother — 7 or 8 feet 

 long — swim into the cove, raise her gigantic bulk on the 

 shore, and heave herself across the pebbles to her eager 

 child. To witness the embraces, caresses, and endear- 

 ments of the great mysterious beast would have been a 

 revelation such as a naturalist values beyond measure. 

 And so I hope, with all my heart, that Mr. Lyell will 

 succeed in his good work of protecting the Great Grey 

 Seal. 



